IPL 2025 | Mahela Jayawardene opens up on MI`s 20-run win against GT

Mumbai Indians (MI) came victorious by 20 runs in the IPL 2025 eliminator against Gujarat Titans (GT).

Following MI`s victory, head coach Mahela Jayawardene said, when you have a winning culture, it helps in performing in the high-pressure matches.

“Well, when you have a winning culture, it is easier to try and have that same thing going through. Even when you get a new group, we still have a very experienced co-group within our ranks,” said Jayawardene.

So far, Mumbai Indians have won five titles in the IPL history.

Referring to the `Fab Four` of the Mumbai-based franchise, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah, the 48-year-old said, “So, the conversations that we have, planning and everything is about, how can we get better, how can we push through”.

“That winning mentality itself comes through from those senior players and having that experience, guys who have won trophies does help and my job is to try and cultivate that for the new guys who are coming into the spot,” added the former Sri Lankan cricketer.

Further, he stated how important it is to tell the new players about the history of Mumbai Indians.

“After the big auction, we had quite a few new faces, but I think telling them about the history of Mumbai and how we go, how we operate and have that attitude that we will never die from a situation, we will always fight through. So, I think that is shown today,” concluded the veteran of 149 Test matches.

Coming to the IPL 2025 Eliminator match against GT, the Hardik Pandya-led MI posted a total of 228 runs for the loss of five wickets.

Former skipper Rohit Sharma played a crucial knock of 81 runs in 50 balls. Shouldering him was Jonny Bairstow, who smashed 47 runs off 22 deliveries.

From Gujarat`s dugout, Prasidh Krishna and Sai Kishore managed to claim two wickets. Impact player, Mohammed Siraj, registered one scalp to his name.

In the run chase of 229 runs, GT lost the wickets of their skipper, Shubman Gill, for just one run. But fellow opening batsman Sai Sudharsan scored 80 runs in 49 balls. During his knock, the left-hander smashed 10 boundaries and a maximum.

Later, Washington Sundar accumulated 48 runs off 24 deliveries. His knock included five boundaries and three maximums, but he fell short of taking the team home.

Mumbai`s pacers Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah registered two and one wickets to their names, respectively. Richard Gleeson, Mitchell Santner and Impact Player, Ashwani Kumar bagged one wicket each.

With this, MI sealed their spot for IPL 2025 Qualifier 2, which is scheduled to be played against Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium on June 1.

(With PTI Inputs)

This article first appeared on Mid Day